POINT OF FACT
? What are the three main characteristics of mixed poker?
•1) None of the many exotic variations of poker (such as 11-card stud) is played for two hands in a row; 2) at least 10 cards are wild in each deal; 3) no stodgy old poker rule is ever considered inviolate or inflexible.
? What is the usual reaction to overcoming the odds and catching the two middle cards of a possible straight?
•Disappointment; a straight is generally a losing hand.
? What is meant by bluffing?
•In mixed poker it is making a nickel raise of a quarter bet while smiling mysteriously and furtively showing one's hand to a nearby player who has folded.
? When does a misdeal occur?
•When more than four players are dealt all their cards up in five-card stud.
? What hand is described as "a whole lot of those little black pointy things"?
•A spade flush.
? Is this generally a winning hand?
•Only when spades are wild.
? When is the expression, "Oh, you're mean!" properly used?
•When a lady's bluff bet of a nickel in a $3 pot is called by a worried male player holding a straight flush.
? In mixed draw poker what does a loud gasp mean after a player has asked for and received four new cards?
•That the player did not mean to keep one card and throw away four—she meant to keep four and throw away one.
? What is the next step?
•If the player is a loser and pretty, she keeps all eight cards; otherwise she must return some of them.
? With twos, threes, jacks and the joker wild, what are the odds, in draw poker, against transforming two pair into a full house?
•Aren't two pair better?
? What happens when a player bets out of turn?
•She giggles.
? Is it legal for a husband to give his wife advice on how to play a hand?
•It is legal but risky.
? Of the following hands, which is best: four aces and a king, a royal straight flush in hearts or a gismo?
•A gismo—that is, three clubs and two red queens—which is beaten only by a monkey flush or a one-eyed tiger.
? Is it ethical for a male player to split his winnings with his wife?
•What winnings?
? Who deals?
•Madge, I think—or is it Tom? You go to the left, don't you? Who dealt last? Was it me? Anyway, I remember I was admiring Mona's nail polish—Oh, I think it must be Alice—or Harry....
ILLUSTRATION